Information about the manuscript

       Annotation. This book is written in accessible form for a wide range of readers. It examines various aspects of previous generations of Ukrainians, as well as modern Ukrainian society. Based on the analysis of everyday life, economy, military affairs, religion, culture and other aspects, the author draws conclusions about the psychological features of Ukrainians. Having examined the similarities and differences between Ukrainians and Europeans on the one side, and Russians on the other, the author singles out the fifty most common  features of the Ukrainian worldview, the combination of which, in his opinion, constitutes the essence of the Ukrainian mentality.

       Target audience. Potential readers are people who are interested in mentality of European nations and their neighbors.

       How will this book benefit. It will enable European and American readers to learn about some important concepts that are not currently published in English non-fiction literature and better understand how to communicate with Ukrainians.

       Why would someone buy it? During the Russian-Ukrainian war Ukraine is constantly mentioned in world news. There are enough people who would like to know more about this country.

       What's special about this book? This book extends limits of standard understanding of the Ukrainians' worldview. It answers the questions: who are Ukrainians; how do the inhabitants of Ukraine differ from Europeans and Russians; which cards in the deck of Ukrainian mentality are trump, and which are burned; how the people of a relatively small country during the war successfully resist the powerful and ruthless aggressor, which is Russia.

         Manuscript languages: Ukrainian, Russian, translation into English is started.

         Number of characters: 690,000 with spaces. For the English-language edition the author intends to reduce the amount of text.

       The copyright for the text currently belongs to the author.

       Previous editions. This book was published in Ukrainian and Russian languages. There was no publication in English.

Covers of previous editions

Preface

Everyone can choose God. Everyone can choose a nationality. Even history. However, nobody can choose a mentality.

In 1990, I was invited to give the lecture circuit in the United States. When I was asked - where are you from? I answered - from Ukraine. Nobody knew what it was and where Ukraine was situated. When I clarified that I’m from Kyiv, the audience was encouraged: "Oh, yes, we know - Chicken Kiev - these cutlets are on the menu of our restaurant." That`s all – there was no other information about Ukraine in the civilized world.

30 years have passed. Now Ukraine is in the top news of the world media. US President Joe Biden mentions it in every speech, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson starts speaking with journalists in Ukrainian language.

What happened?

In recent years, two logically impossible things have happened in Ukraine: in 2014, Ukrainians unseat their dictator-president, who ordered to shoot them with machine guns; in 2022, Ukrainians stopped a huge armada of the Russian army, which used all its bloody power against them. NATO experts shrugged in surprise: "How is it possible? We predicted the collapse of Ukraine 96 hours after the invasion… It is bombed - and it stands; it is ironed with tanks – and it stands; it is destroyed by missiles – and it stands; enemy soldiers are climbing on it from all sides - and can do nothing. Where did this Ukrainian iron come from?” 

Military experts were wrong. The crazy Russian president was also wrong. Counting the number of armament, the world did not take into account the main weapon of Ukrainians - their spirit, their core, their mentality.

The first edition of this book was published in 2008 in Ukrainian and Russian languages. At that time research on this topic was almost non-existent. Well… They seem to have been… However, they were divided into three types.

The first direction could be called: "paranoid-patriotic mantras". Something like: "Ukraine is the homeland of the best elephants!" If not elephants, then at least the smartest, most cunning monkeys.

The second direction is diametrically opposed. Its main opinion: a Ukrainian is a loser, a person who is neuroticized by a complex of inferiority, uselessness, failure ... In such clumsy studies, the red thread was the conclusion: "Ukrainians were oppressed, are oppressed and will be oppressed."

The third version of publications on this topic were profound philosophical treatises, in which there was hardly possible something to understand.

While preparing the edition for the English-speaking readers, the author composed the text so that the content was clear to those people who are interested in the mentality of European nations, know quite a bit about Ukraine, but want to find out more about it. Based on the analysis of the history, everyday life of Ukrainians, their economy, culture, religion, politics, etc., the author singled out 50 dominant psychological traits, compared them with the most common traits of Europeans from one side and Russians from the other, and made a supposition if Ukrainians can be considered as the Eastern or the Western community.

A person opens in an extreme situation. In times of danger, human "takes off the mask" and reveals both his best and worst qualities. In an extreme situation, it becomes clear what the whole nation is. Ukrainians had enough extremes in their history. The Russian-Ukrainian war 2022 also provided much to be understood. Therefore, this edition includes something of what Ukrainians themselves had not previously guessed, which was not reflected in previous editions of this book, and in English non-fiction literature as well.

Looking for answer to the question "Who is a Ukrainian?", the author tried to be as impartial as possible, not to put forward any of his own hypotheses, and objectively, as far as possible, to describe everything as it is.

“Plato is my friend – but my greatest friend is truth.“ Moreover the naked truth. This is what I offer to readers.

Feedback on previous editions

 Arkady Medvinsky, political analyst
This is a stunningly exciting and very unusual book. The author managed to do what many other authors tried to do before him unsuccessfully: to answer the question of when and how the Ukrainian nation was formed and why it "turned out" exactly as it is - with all its advantages and disadvantages. This is a fascinating non-fiction study. The legendary Scythians, Sarmatians, Proto-Slavs, residents of Kievan Rus, Zaporozhye Cossacks appear before the reader. After historical review the author writes about the culture and art of Ukrainians, explores their customs with good humor. Using a non-standard style of narration, Alexander Strasnij shows that the Ukrainians are an peculiar nation, differ from Russians and closer to Europeans. The book is amazingly interesting! Everyone will read it with pleasure, from students to pensioners.

 Tatiana Luneva, lawyer. The narration is easy to follow and understand, the historical chronology is clearly demonstrated. I began to see the Ukrainians differently. Now I understand the reasons for their actions.

 Valery Yarovoy, doctor of historical sciences, professor, Head of the Department of History of the Slavs Kiev National University.
This book should not be considered as the scientific study. However, the original systematization of the material, the integrity of the author's generalization of the diversity of features of the Ukrainian mentality, and the positive charge that this book carries make it attractive and interesting.                     

 Dr. Agnes Laczkone, head Department of Political Science, University of Pecs (Hungary).
After reading the manuscript, which Mr. Strasnij kindly provided me, I developed sympathy for Ukraine and an interest to learn more about its citizens. With the permission of the author, I announced his conclusions at the conference on the further enlargement of the European Union.